Sha‘ar Hashamayim Synagogue Dome

Maurice Joseph Cattaui

Eduard Matasek

1905

Photograph of domed ceiling covered with geometric shapes, including Stars of David.

When it was first built, the Sha‘ar Hashamayim (Gate of Heaven) Synagogue in Cairo was the largest building on the boulevard where it still stands. Built to resemble what was imagined to be the design of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, but also modeled on ancient Egyptian temples, it included a large hall for the weddings and celebrations of the elite Jewish families who contributed the funds to build it. Pictured here is the synagogue’s resplendently decorated dome, pierced with multiple windows to bathe the interior in light.

Credits

Courtesy Leo Baeck Institute. Photo: P. Dittrich, 1905.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 7.

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Creator Bio

Maurice Joseph Cattaui

b. 1874

Born in Cairo to the wealthy, well-educated, and Europeanized Cattaui (or Cattaoui, Cattawi, Cattavi) family, Maurice Cattaui studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Returning to Cairo, he opened an architecture firm with Eduard Matasek, an Austrian Roman Catholic. Their Sha‘ar Hashamayim Synagogue was inspired by Charles Chipiez’s and Georges Perrot’s models of the Temple of Jerusalem (1889) but drew on Egyptian, Assyrian, and art-nouveau motifs as well. This synagogue design was later borrowed for the Karaite community’s Moshe Dar‘i Synagogue (1931). Cattaui and Matasek also designed a number of Cairo villas, the Cairo Stock Exchange (1928), and the Austro-Hungarian Hospital in the Cairene neighborhood of Shubra (1913).

Creator Bio

Eduard Matasek

1867–1912

Born into a Roman Catholic family in Vienna, Eduard Matasek received no formal architectural training. He studied under his father, a master builder, and worked with a number of Viennese architectural firms, specializing in exterior decoration and ornamentation. After working on the Egyptian government pavilion at the World’s Fair (Columbian Exposition) in Chicago, he moved to Cairo, where he opened a firm with Maurice Cattaui. In addition to the Sha‘ar Hashamayim synagogue, the firm produced a number of Cairo’s landmarks, including the Bab el- Louk market (1912), villas, schools, and a hospital. Matasek’s villa in Ma‘adi was acquired by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo in the 1960s.

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